Traditional textile products, such as bedding sheets and the like, are generally "finished" to produce a quality product. By the term "finished" or "finishing," we mean that the edges of the sheet are hemmed in a uniform manner. The edges of the sheet are cut, folded, and sewn. The "finishing" is performed either by hand or in an automated process.
Presently, most sheet and other types of textile manufacturing is performed in an automated process due to speed and efficiency. In such an automated process, the quality of the hem is monitored by a worker as the sheet advances through the various cutting and sewing devices. The sheet generally is sewn with the hem "up" to enable the worker to monitor the quality of the hem. By "up," we mean that the fold and the stitching is visible. A quality hem will have a uniform fold. The stitching will be a uniform distance from the edge of the sheet, will not have any gaps, and will not cause the sheet material to "bunch" together. Most problems with the quality of the hem occur at the beginning and ending corners of the sheet where the respective edges meet.
Modern textile finishing equipment not only hems the sides of the sheet, but also folds and packages the sheet in a high speed operation. The sheet may move through the equipment at speeds of about 800 inches per minute or more. For appearance reasons, however, the sheets are now run through the hemming operations with the hem in the "down" position. After the hemming operations, the sheet often goes directly into the folding apparatus without an opportunity for a worker to inspect the quality of the hem. Because of the speed in which the equipment operates and because the sheet is advanced through the device with the hem down, there is little opportunity for the worker to inspect the quality of the hem. Manufacturers have attempted to solve this inspection problem by positioning workers literally underneath the machine to inspect periodically the hem. This approach is inefficient in that the worker does not have enough time to inspect properly the hem. Further, this position can be awkward or even dangerous for the worker.
What is needed, therefore, is a means to monitor and inspect the quality of the hemming process in a high-speed textile finishing apparatus. These monitoring and inspection means must enable the worker to maintain quality control over the product without placing the worker in a physically awkward or dangerous position.